I know what is good.

SOS – Viva La France

Happy Bastille Day. It’s funny because just yesterday we bought tickets to Paris. As if we didn’t have enough going on, soon after we land in New Jersey, Mrs. Fussy and I are going back to gorge ourselves on butter and bread.

In completely unrelated news, as we were packing, I found myself looking at a stack of old pants in my closet and none of them happened to fit. Goodwill will be getting a bunch of slacks from the Brothers Brooks, that place that used to be a safari store, and Dockers (which used to be one of my clients).

Anyway there is a lot of food news that has been sent my way that I want to share with you. Some of it may be old hat, since I’ve seen it listed in other sources. But hopefully most of it will be new and interesting. Why more people aren’t sharing communiques from Adventure in Food Trading is a mystery. Their love notes about food are always magnificent.

But without further ado, here’s a torrent of food “news” and events.

Dine Al Fresco at Cabin Creek on July 16th with Slow Food Saratoga

Come feast on local food, meet the retired Thoroughbreds, dine in their magnificent barn, listen to live jazz and sip wine as you overlook the fountain with the back drop of pastoral paddocks holding Travers winners Thunder Rumble and Will’s Way, as well as stakes winner Watchem Smokey. Meet America’s lovable loser Zippy Chippy and the rest of the herd! Cool N Collective, Crusader’s Sword, Lorccan, Roaring Lion,Midnight Secret, Red Down South, Karakorum Patriot, Moonshadow Gold. Come early to get a chance to listen to their stories and get up close to these incredible athletes.

DID YOU KNOW THAT DOMESTIC RABBIT IS THE MOST NUTRITIOUS MEAT KNOWN TO MAN, ACCORDING TO THE USDA?
Let us lay a few facts out for ya.

– Rabbit meat is all white meat.
– Rabbit has 795 calories per pound. Compare to chicken at 810, veal at 840, turkey at 1190, lamb at 1420, beef at 1440, and pork at 2050.
– Rabbit has the highest percentage of protein.
– Cholesterol levels in rabbit meat are much lower than chicken, turkey, beef, or pork.
– Rabbit meat has been recommended for special diets such as for heart disease patients, diets for the elderly, low sodium diets, and weight reduction diets.
– Because it is easily digested, it has been recommended by doctors for patients who have trouble eating other meats.

The company has launched its Kickstarter campaign. Now for the next 30 days people can log onto kickstarter and participate in Gatherer’s Granola’s crowd-sourcing effort to roll out three new gluten free, non-GMO flavors. The Kickstarter video features Sandro Gerbini, founder, and the jazz musicians who staff the bakery (and that’s a story all by itself).

Please join Hadassah Capital District and Temple Israel at our Farm-to-Table event on August 11 from 4-7 at Temple Israel. This is a community event featuring local food and a panel discussion. Wine and Beer (from Shmaltz Brewing!–makers of He’Brew!) will be available. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased here: http://plantpraylove.brownpapertickets.com/

POLITICS OF FOOD RESIDENCY NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS

Delfina Foundation (DF) is inviting artists, curators, writers, film makers and other cultural practitioners interested in exploring issues surrounding the politics of food to apply for our first theme-based residency, scheduled to run from mid January to mid April 2014.

From Marinetti’s Manifesto of Futurist Cooking to Gordon Matta Clark’s Food restaurant and more recently Michael Rakowitz’s Enemy Kitchen, artists have long employed food within their practice and creative process. But beyond the concept of cooking and eating as a performative act, the last decade has witnessed a proliferation of cultural practitioners and artist interrogating the global politics and ethics of food production, distribution and consumption. Moreover, food has also been used by cultural practitioners as a means of understanding complex histories and questioning current issues, from neoliberalism to globalisation.

By bringing together practitioners from different creative fields, DF would like to explore how artistic strategies have and can be used to address wide-ranging issues related to food, agriculture, human rights and the environment. DF is particularly interested in practitioners whose work transgresses the boundaries between art and every day life.

By creating a focussed environment, DF aims to facilitate collaborative exchange fostering new ideas and projects. DF will support peer-to-peer conversations between residents through a series of informal gatherings and meals, as well as targeted organisational visits and opportunities to engage with artists, academics and researchers interested in the same lines of inquiry. These internal events will be complemented with an external public programme of talks, screenings, dinners and panel discussions presenting the work, ideas and exchanges taking place.

The politics of food residency will launch a new residency model at DF around seasonal programmes, during which artists, curators and thinkers will be invited to stay at the foundation for short and long residencies to jointly discuss and explore salient issues in contemporary art. While DF has had a strong connection with the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (MENASA) over the last six years, applicants from the around the world are invited to apply to this new programme which focuses on supporting common practices from the MENASA regions, alongside practitioners from other parts of the world.

The selected resident(s) will receive: A 12-week residency at DF in London, including accommodation in our newly opened premises in Victoria, one economy return flight, a bursary for per diems and a local travel allowance.

Application process
Applications are open to individuals from all nationalities as long as they are proficient in English.

DF is seeking applicants who have an interest in issues surrounding the politics of food but this need not be the sole or main inquiry in their practice. We encourage applicants from the MENASA regions as well.

Applicants are expected to submit:
– A completed application form which will include a description of a project related to the politics of food theme that they have carried out, are working on or would like to develop in the future
– Recent CV/resume
– Portfolio (only one pdf file). Although there is no maximum number of images that will be accepted, we advise applicants to only submit relevant materials to reduce the size of email submissions. The images should include captions or short descriptions. For videos/films, please provide links to your own website, Vimeo page, YouTubepage, etc. Do not attach actual video files. If you are not an artist, please submit relevant supportive material which may include documentation of curated shows, published articles, unpublished research, or any other documentation of your work in regards to your practice.

Please submit only electronic copies of the above in ONE email under 8 MB to: residency@delfinafoundation.com.

In the subject line of your email, please specify: Politics of Food Residency.

Timeline
Open Call: 10 June to 29 July 2013
Artists short-listed: 1 August 2013
Interviews with short-listed artists through Skype: 1 to 15 August 2013
Announcement of Selection: 19 August 2013
Residency Length: mid January – mid April 2014
Closing date for applications: 29 July 2013, 17:00 GMT

HISTORIC TROJAN HOTEL TO REOPEN AS RESTAURANTLansingburgh Family Relocating O’Brien’s Public House to Third Street Landmark

TROY, N.Y. — A Lansingburgh Family aims to re-open the historic Trojan Hotel by this fall.

“Once the Trojan Hotel is back, then Troy is back,” said Donald O’Brien. “It’s one of the last landmark downtown buildings that needs fixing up.”

On Monday, Terry and Donald O’Brien, both 43, purchased the 19,269 square-foot building at 43 Third St. from Scott Sacci. They plan to re-establish O’Brien’s Public House this fall on the first floor of the hotel, which includes a ballroom in the rear. Next they plan to re-open the historic Trojan Taproom, a once popular rathskeller among city leaders, by December.

The O’Brien family — Donald, Terry, Ali and DJ — ran O’Brien’s Public House for 20 months at 443 Fifth Ave. in Lansingburgh until closing this June, when they announced plans to relocate the business and their residence downtown. Their Lansingburgh house burned to the ground in September. They plan to live above their new restaurant in the second and third floors of the original 19th century building.

The O’Briens are working with Jeff Buell, of Sequence Development, to explore the option of turning the upper levels of the 70-room circa 1915 hotel addition into storage units to serve the downtown community. Buell has been recently involved in the rehab of 9 First Street (“The Bindery”) and 207 Broadway (“The Clark House”).

“We know we have some big shoes to fill with this property. The DeGiorgio family, who ran the Taproom for many years, were legends,” Terry O’Brien said. “We have generational ties to this building, too, and we’re happy to bring it back into the family.”

Donald O’Brien’s godparents, the Toligians, owned the Trojan in the 1960’s. His parents first met at the hotel, then had their wedding reception and their 25th anniversary there.

RESTORATION FUND & SEEKING MEMORABILIA

For those wishing to contribute, the O’Briens have set up a restoration fund for the Trojan Hotel. Donors will receive different levels of recognition based on contribution.

“Troy is a tight-knit community of people who really care about our landmark buildings,” Terry O’Brien said. “People want to help, to contribute, and the restoration fund is our way for the community to feel a sense of ownership for this place.”

The couple also welcomes donations of any Trojan Hotel and Trojan Taproom memorabilia or photographs that people may have accumulated over the years.

ABOUT THE TROJAN HOTEL

Built in the 19th century, the building originally served as a bar, ballroom and residence. In the late 1800s, it was opened as a hotel. The name was changed to the Trojan Hotel in the early 20th century, when a 5-story addition was built in the rear, facing Franklin Alley. The building and popular taproom have changed hands several times throughout its history.

The DeGiorgio family ran the taproom from 1969 until 2003, when the city foreclosed on the building. They had stopped renting rooms several years earlier.

In 2004, Anthony Prezio, a relative of the DeGiorgios, wrote and performed and recorded an original musical, “An Evening at the Trojan Hotel.”

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Just a quick note about Goodwill… I may sound like a gadfly here, but you might be better off giving to the nice ladies at For Pete’s Sake off of Allen Street. Consider this recent piece about employee compensation there:

Thanks, as always, for the informative posts. Now I get to figure out how to convince my girlfriend to eat rabbit meat without her raising an objection along the lines of “well, it’s just a little bunny…”). Maybe I’ll make a stew, like the old cartoons… hopefully Bugs will escape!